Jeremy Loeb

Reporter & Morning Edition Host

Jeremy Loeb is a reporter and host of Morning Edition on WCQS. He joined the station in December 2014.

Jeremy grew up in Durham, North Carolina. He got his start in radio as an intern at WHQR Public Radio in Wilmington, NC while attending the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He was an operations assistant, host of All Things Considered, and was one of a rotating roster of hosts for an eclectic half-hour music program during his six years there. He then spent two years back near his hometown, living in Carrboro, NC while working for North Carolina Public Radio – WUNC. He was a reporter, a Morning Edition producer, and backup host for All Things Considered.

After two years, Jeremy moved to Washington D.C. and drove a pedicab on the National Mall and volunteered on various political campaigns. He returned to WHQR briefly after a year to be their All Things Considered host. He then joined Alabama Public Radio in Tuscaloosa as a reporter and Morning Edition host. He was there until moving to downtown Asheville and beginning work at WCQS.

Jeremy was also a producer for two years on A Season’s Griot, out of Wilmington, the only nationally-syndicated Kwanzaa program in the country, and filled in for a short time as a producer on WUNC’s local affairs program The State of Things, which is now aired on WCQS weekdays at noon. He likes reading and drinking coffee at Battery Park Book Exchange, and he’s happiest when he’s riding his bike and blasting indie music in his headphones.

Speaking to BPR a day after the legislature passed a bill forcing districts for Asheville city council members, mayor Esther Manheimer said there is a legal strategy in place to deal with them. Manheimer said the issue would need to be discussed at the next council meeting on July 25th.

1.34 million North Carolinians could lose health insurance if the Senate health care bill became law, according to the liberal think-tank the Center for American Progress. The group evaluated numbers by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office that found 22 million Americans could lose health coverage under the Senate plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

The long-debated Asheville districts bill is now law. The North Carolina House passed the bill forcing districts for Asheville city council members, and the Senate quickly concurred. It passed despite the lone Asheville Democrat in favor withdrawing his support after it was amended.

A bill forcing districts on the city of Asheville needs several more votes before becoming law. It's on the House schedule for Thursday, possibly the last day of session. The bill is sponsored by Republican Senator Chuck Edwards of Hendersonville.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced he will veto the state budget, as expected. But the Democratic governor said he would sign the budget if Republicans would eliminate the corporate tax cut, include the child care tax credits set out in his budget, and limit their income tax cut to those making less than $150,000 a year.

"This means that the tax cut benefits will go to the individuals and families who truly need help. So I'm willing to compromise on that measure."

Republican Western North Carolina Congressman Mark Meadows says the Affordable Care Act repeal bill presented by Senate GOP leaders currently lacks support in both chambers of Congress. Meadows' remarks came during a conference call with reporters.

A bill requiring the city of Asheville to adopt districts for the purpose of electing council members is one step closer to passage after picking up the key support of Rep. Brian Turner (D-Buncombe). The bill put forward by Republican Senator Chuck Edwards of Hendersonville got support not only from Turner but from at least one Republican who opposed a similar bill from his predecessor, Senator Tom Apodoca, also of Hendersonville. But Turner told BPR he would be unlikely to support the bill if an amendment he plans to introduce is not adopted.

BPR's Jeremy Loeb breaks down the hearing on SB285 in the House elections committee

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26:57

Full committee hearing on SB285

The city of Asheville is one step closer to having districts for city council members. A House committee passed a bill Wednesday to require just that. And it appears to have picked up key support for eventual passage.

Republican lawmakers are negotiating a final budget proposal behind closed doors. Unclear is what will emerge from those talks. Details could be released as soon as Friday with votes taken next week. One proposal included in the Senate's budget has created uncertainty over food stamps. It was put forward by Senator Ralph Hise of Spruce Pine. For more on its potential impact, we spoke with Hannah Randall, CEO of MANNA FoodBank, a non-partisan group that serves 16 counties in western North Carolina.

A needle exchange program in Asheville has been running out of supplies on a monthly basis for over a year. That's according to Michael Harney, co-founder of the Needle Exchange Program of Asheville. Harney says the group goes through about 60,000 needles a month but can't keep up with the demand for clean needles. The program operated for years before the exchanges were legalized as a way to ensure those addicted to drugs don't share needles and spread blood-borne diseases like HIV and Hepatitis B and C, which are on the rise in North Carolina.

The opioid crisis is taking an acute toll and nowhere is immune, including here in North Carolina. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein says four people die every day in North Carolina from an opioid overdose. With that in mind, a mixture of lawmakers, law enforcement, first responders, health professionals and advocates of Buncombe County were on hand to hear from Stein recently. He’s made tackling the issue one of his top priorities since taking office, spearheading a bipartisan bill called the STOP Act.